Local 700 Members Lobby Lawmakers To Expand Production Tax Credits in California

 

By Kristin Marguerite Doidge

 

 For more than a century, California has served as the heart of the global film and television industry—supporting hundreds of thousands of creative production and post-production professionals and helping to fuel a vast network of local businesses, encouraging tourism, and supporting ongoing economic growth in local communities.

But in recent years, increasing competition to entice producers to make projects in other states and countries has put California’s entertainment workforce at risk. The contraction of projects being greenlit during the pandemic, followed by the dual labor strikes and recent devastating wildfires, have only made things worse for many people working at all levels in the industry.

That’s why the Guild has joined in helping to support the IATSE California Council with the Entertainment Union Coalition (EUC)’s “Keep California Rolling” initiative to help legislators understand the importance of passing Assembly Bill 1138 in the State Assembly and Senate Bill 630 in the California State Senate, which Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed to expand the current television and film tax credit program for the state.

Last Sunday, 1,500 film and TV workers joined together in support of the “Stay in LA” grassroots campaign in Sun Valley to encourage lawmakers to boost film and TV production in Southern California.

The rally comes after more than 90 people from various guilds in IATSE traveled to Sacramento to attend hearings in March, and every person was provided 30 seconds to speak to the panel of legislators. On the second day of their visit, the members broke up into smaller groups and went to various legislators’ offices to meet with them individually.

“I’m a picture editor and I’m a mother of two,” Shannon Baker Davis, an LA-based picture editor and a Local 700 board member, told lawmakers when it was her turn to speak at the microphone. “And as hard as it is to work long hours in a dark room, it’s harder to not work. You can’t support your family. You can’t keep your health insurance.”

The coalition, which is made up of 165,000 union members, is advocating for increased tax incentives to keep production in the state and prevent further job loss, as many skilled workers have been out of work for extended periods due to a slowdown in production. Alenis Balderrama, Western Associate Director at Editors Guild and part of the coalition, traveled with the group to Sacramento and offered her expertise in lobbying efforts on behalf of the Guild’s members.

Hopeful that a specific post-production component might get added, Davis added: “Women and people of color have been encouraged to enter post-production, and we are the first people to leave when jobs are scarce, so we desperately need this work to stay in California, and we desperately need a post-production tax credit to be included in the production credit.”

For Bobbi Banks, an LA-based supervising sound editor and supervising dialogue/ADR editor who also traveled with the group and spoke to lawmakers, this is an urgent matter that requires immediate action. She said the recent trip is one of many planned between now and the vote on these measures in June.

“In the last 18 months, I’ve only worked for three months,” Banks said. “And the challenge has also been that you don’t know what’s coming. Some productions are now going to start shooting, however, there’s still a five or six-month wait for post-production people to get back to work.”

The current film and television tax credit program in California is capped at $330 million, which Banks points out is less than half of what New York offers, and the credit hasn’t been increased in 10 years. Many experienced workers have lost their health insurance due to lack of work, and some are retiring early or moving to other states with more production and post-production opportunities.

“The entertainment industry has played a vital role in the history of California, and we have supported previous intiatives in both California and New York to retain as much work as possible for all of our members nationwide,” National Executive Director Scott George added. “It’s absolutely vital for us to lift our voices on this issue for our members.”

 

What members can do:

• Sign and share the EUC pledge: Take the Pledge: Unite to Secure Our Future
• Call your local representative: Find Your California Representatives
• Learn more about the EUC’s “Keep California Rolling” campaign: Take Action!

 

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